Lord Drayson: The average and maximum periods which operationally qualified support helicopter aircrew of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force spent on detached duty away from their parent air stations in the year ending 31 March 2006 are shown in the following table.
	
		Days spent on detached duty during the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006
		
			 Aircraft type Average Maximum 
			 RAF Puma 68 204 
			 RAF Merlin 140 203 
			 RAF Chinook 125 179 
			 RN Sea King 148 225 
			 RAF Sea King 41 88 
		
	
	Defence strategic guidance contains harmony planning assumptions of which there are two components: separated service assumptions derived from analysis of historical norms and judgments by each service principal personnel officer of the harmony needs of their personnel and force structure planning assumptions.
	The separated service assumption for the Royal Navy is that an individual should spend no more than 660 days away from home over a rolling three-year period while force structure planning assumptions state that fleet units should spend no more than 60 per cent. of time deployed in a three-year cycle, although for support helicopters RAF force planning assumptions apply.
	The Royal Air Force separated service assumption is that an individual should spend no more than 140 days away from home in a rolling 12-month period while force structure planning assumptions state that RAF units should operate on a cycle of four months on operations followed by and interval of 16 months.
	These figures exclude RAF and RN search and rescue (SAR) helicopters with the exception of 78 Squadron in the Falklands where two crews are provided at any one time to provide 24 hour, 365 days a year, deployable SAR cover for Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands.

Lord Warner: The following table shows the number of doctors working in the National Health Service in England, who qualified in a non-European Union country. Information relating to Scotland and Wales is the responsibility of the devolved administrations.
	In Northern Ireland, there are currently 370 non-European Union doctors in training.
	
		General and Personal Medical Services and Hospital, Community Health Services (HCHS) All Doctors in training by specified Country of Primary Qualification group1,2,3
		
			  Numbers(headcount) 
			 England as at30 September 2005 All Countries ofQualification of which: Non-EU Countries 
			 All Doctors2,3 119,017  33,033 
			  of which:   
			  All Doctors in Training 45,965 17,078 
			 All HCHS MedicalStaff2,3  83,073 27,371 
			  of which:   
			  Registrar Group 17,657 6,477 
			  Senior House Officer 21,109 9,157 
			  House Officer & Foundation Programme Year 1 4,635 562 
			 All GPs1  35,944 5,662 
			  of which:   
			  GP Registrars 2,564 882 
		
	
	1 All Practitioners includes Contracted GPs, GMS Others, PMS Others, GP Registrars and GP Retainers
	2 Excludes medical Hospital Practitioners and medical Clinical Assistants, most of whom are GPs working part time in hospitals
	3 Excludes all dental staff. Information about country of qualification is derived from the General Medical Council. For staff in dental specialties, with a General Dental Council registration, the country of qualification is therefore unknown.
	Source: The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census The Information Centre for health and social care General & Personal Medical Services Statistics.
	The Department of Health has put in place transitional arrangements to ensure that doctors currently in post are allowed to complete their programme.
	Doctors from outside the European Economic Area who have graduated in the United Kingdom will have up to three years to complete their foundation training. Once the foundation course has been completed, doctors will need to meet the normal requirements of the immigration rules.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Estimates of the cost of reduced national insurance contributions for the self employed—not attributable to their reduced benefit eligibility—were published in April and were £1.7 billion for 2004-05 and £1.9 billion for 2005–06. These figures are shown in the table at the following link at www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/taxexpenditures/1–5–apr06.xls.
	These estimates are particularly uncertain due to their complex nature and so the following further estimates that are underpinned by them should be treated with caution.
	In order to make self employed national insurance contributions (class 2 and class 4 contributions) the same as class 1 national insurance contributions paid by employees and employers after reflecting reduced benefit eligibility, taking the above figure and simply varying existing NIC rates, the main class 4 rate would need to be increased by 6.2 per cent.
	In order to maintain revenue neutrality while matching contribution rates of the self employed to those paid in respect of employees after reflecting reduced benefit eligibility (again taking the above figure and simply varying existing NIC rates) the main employee's (primary) class 1 contribution rate would need to lowered by 0.3 per cent. and the main class 4 contribution rate raised by 3.1 per cent.
	These figures are for UK contributions in respect of 2005-06 and are consistent with Budget 2006 projections.
	These estimates exclude any behavioural response to the changes, which could be significant given the magnitude of the change.

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	For the latest year for which figures are available, what assessment they have made of the cost of (a) raising the personal allowance to £7,500; (b) raising the personal allowance to £7,500 and eliminating the 10 per cent. rate of income tax; and (c) raising the personal allowance to £7,500, eliminating the 10 per cent. rate of income tax and restricting the personal allowance to providing relief at a maximum of 22 per cent; and
	For the latest year for which figures are available, what assessment they have made of the cost of (a) raising the personal allowance to £10,000; (b) raising the personal allowance to £10,000 and eliminating the 10 per cent. rate of income tax; and (c) raising the personal allowance to £10,000, eliminating the 10 per cent. rate of income tax and restricting the personal allowance to providing relief at a maximum of 22 per cent.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information for 2006–07 is provided in the table.
	
		
			 Additional cost from:  
			 Increasing all personal allowances to £7,500. -£14.1 billion 
			 Increasing all personal allowances to £7,500 and abolishing the 10 per cent. starting rate1 -£7.7 billion 
			 Increasing all personal allowances to £7,500, abolishing the 10 per cent. starting rate1 and restricting the personal allowance to providing relief at a maximum of 22 per cent. -£6.5 billion 
			 Increasing all personal allowances to £10,000. -£28.0 billion 
			 Increasing all personal allowances to £10,000 and abolishing the 10 per cent. starting rate1 -£22.5 billion 
			 Increasing all personal allowances to £10,000, abolishing the 10 per cent. per cent starting rate1 and restricting the personal allowance to providing relief at a maximum of 22 per cent. -£20.4 billion 
		
	
	1 Only the starting rate band on earnings and savings is absorbed in the basic rate band, tax rates on dividends remain unchanged.
	The estimates are based on the 2003–04 Survey of Personal Incomes projected forward to 2006–07 in line with Budget 2006 assumptions.
	The figure excludes any estimate of behavioural response to the tax changes which could be significant given the scale of the changes.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information is in the table.
	
		
			 Policy option Yield/Cost (£million) (+ve is an Exchequer yield) 
			 Harmonise age-related personal allowances to the level of the allowance for those aged 75 and over -55 
			 Harmonise age-related personal allowances to the level of the allowance for those aged 65 to 74 +35 
			 Harmonise married couple's allowances to the level of the allowance for those aged 75 and over  
			 Harmonise married couple's allowances to the level of the allowance for those aged less than 75 +3 
		
	
	Note: Married couples where the eldest partner was born before 6 April 1935 are eligible for the married couple's allowance and since 5 December 2005, this has also applied to Civil Partnerships. Tax relief for this allowance is restricted to 10 per cent.
	The information in the table is based upon the 2003–04 Survey of Personal Incomes projected forward to 2006–07 in line with March 2006 Budget assumptions.